Heating apparatus



June 5, 1951 E, cLARK 2,555,841

HEATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 28, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

v INVENTOR WITNESSES EARL K. CLARK June 5, 1951 Filed Aug. 28, 1948 E.K. CLARK HEATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 42 I 8 INVENTOR EARL K.CLARK 4 ATTORNEY Patented June 5, 1951 HEATING APPARATUS Earl K. Clark,Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, EastPittsburgh, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 28,1948, Serial No. 46,599

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a range construction and, more particularly,to a range oven assembly in which uneven expansion of the oven liner dueto baking heat is controlled to prevent variable baking conditions whichwould otherwise be normally incurred.

In a present construction, although the oven liner is drawn toward therear of the range body, nevertheless, when heated, it expands unevenlyand has a tendency to move forward in its lower portion, causing thenormal air gap between the lower portions of the oven door and the linerflange to decrease. In some cases, this air gap is completely taken upcutting on" the desired air intake to the oven. In extreme cases, theforward movement of the liner may exceed the gap width with the resultthat the oven door is moved outwardly, causing a variable gap to appearat the top of the door. To overcome this effect, the gap provided isconsiderably wider than necessary to provide good baking results, theadditional width serving to allow for forward expansion of the ovenliner when heated. A small controlled gap between the door and the linerflange is desirable and acts as an air intake for the oven ventingsystem. A controlled air intake is necessary for distribution of heatfor critical baking operations. When the normal air gap is taken up orshifted due to expansion of the oven liner, the heat distribution isupset and the thermal efficiency of the oven is impaired.

It is an object of this invention to provide a range oven constructionhaving an air intake gap which is substantially uniform at all ovenoperating temperatures.

Another object of this invention is to provide a range oven constructionhaving a narrow air intake gap which may be attained consistently fromoven to oven for all oven operating temperatures.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a range ovenconstruction having an air intake gap which may be adjusted when theoven is cold, Without the necessity of allowing for restriction due toexpansion of the oven.

It is a still further object of this invention. to provide a range ovenconstruction in which chipping or cracking of the porcelain surfaces dueto thermal metal expansion is. reduced.

These and other objects are effected by the invention as will beapparent from the following description and claims taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a range with some parts omitted or insection for clarity;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the oven liner assembly;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section of the range shown in Fig. 1, butgreatly enlarged;

Fig. 4: is a cross section taken on line IV-IV of Fig. l, greatlyenlarged;

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 but showing the location of the doorpivot;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 ShOWiIlg another embodiment of theinvention; and

Fig. '7 is a front perspective view of the oven liner shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in detail, as best illustrated inFig. l, a range structure is shown including a porcelain coated 'platform Ill supported by and fastened to a porcelain coated wall structurei2. A porcelain coated inner oven wall structure or oven liner I6 isdisposed within the enclosure formed by the wall structure and platform.

The enclosing Wall structure 12 comprises a plurality of angularlyrelated walls which include side walls l8, a front Wall 20 and a rearwall 22.

The oven liner l6 comprises a plurality of walls which include a rearwall 24, side walls 25, a top Wall 28 and a bottom wall till formin abaking compartment closed on all sides except the front. The frontmarginal portion of the oven liner is bent outwardly to provide aperipheral flange comprising a top flange 32, a bottom flange 34, andside flanges 36. An air vent 3i is provided in the rear portion of theoven liner top wall 28 to permit the exit of food vapors. Although Ihave shown the vent in the top wall, it will be understood that the ventmay be disposed in the rear or side walls as desired. Attached to therear face of the bottom flange 34 as by spot-welding (denoted by X5) isa flat strip member 38.

The front range wall 20 has an opening formed therein defined by aplurality of inwardly displaced lateral flanges including a top flange40, a bottom flange 42 and side flanges 44. The bottom flange 42 has thegreatest inward displacement while the top flange 49 has the leastdisplacement, the side flanges being slightly oblique to provide a flushcontour. The oven liner iii is inserted through the flanged opening andis positioned therein by abutment of its top flange 32 with the top wallflange 4i] and abut?- ment of its lower flange strip member 38. with thebottom wall flange 42.

A horizontal internal wall 46 is disposed within the wall structure Ifand is attached thereto in any desirable manner. A plurality of Z-shapedbrackets 48 are positioned upon and fastened to the horizontal wall 46at the rear end thereof to support the rear end of the oven liner it.These brackets allow the oven liner to move rearwardly, since they arenot fastened to the liner, but merely support it.

The oven liner may be removably attached to the rear wall 22 by aplurality of J-bolts 553 inserted through openings therein. The ovenliner side walls 26 are provided with openings 52 adapted to be engagedby the hook portions of the J-bolts and the oven liner is then urgedrearwardly by tightening the J-bolts.

As best shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the oven liner strip member 38 isrigidly fastened to the wall flange 42 by a plurality of screws 54.These screws are inserted through openings 56, disposed in the stripmember 38 and in registry with mating openings in the wall flange 42. Anangular gap A is formed between the oven liner side flanges 36 and thefront wall side flanges 44, which gap at the bottom is the width of thestrip member 38 and tapers off to zero at the oven liner top flange 40.A bakin element covered by a battle E (shown in dot-dash lines) isdisposed in the lower portion of the liner in close proximity to thebottom wall 30 and extending substantially from front to rear, hence thegreatest expansion will occur in the lower portions of the liner. thebottom in the high expansion area and diminishes proportionatelyupwardly in the low expansion area. Because of the uneven linerexpansion some distortion of the liner side flanges is unavoidable. Thegap A is sufflcient to permit any such distortion to occur withoutabutment of the wall side flanges and the oven liner side wall flanges.Thus, the stresses on the porcelain coated flanges are minimized,reducing the possibility of chipping and. cracking the finish.

A loosely fitting door 58 disposed within the front wall openingprovides a closure for the oven liner. As shown in Fig. 5, the door ispivotally supported in its lower portion by a bracket 60 of anyconventional type desired. The door may be of sheet metal structure andso formed as to provide an internal hollow space which is filled with aheat-insulating material 62 such as, for example, spun glass. The doorhas a peripheral lateral flange 64 which overlies the oven liner flanges40-, 42 and 44 when it is in closed position. The upper portion of thedoor flange abuts the top oven liner flange 32, but since the door isdisposed in vertical position, the side and bottom portions of the doorflange are in spaced relation to the side and bottom flanges 36 and 34,respectively, of the oven liner, providing an angular gap B which iswidest at the bottom of the door and diminishes to zero at the top.

The gap B serves as the air intake for the oven liner l6, allowing coolair to enter at its lower portion, and hot gases to rise to its upperportion and escape through the bent 31. This air circulation providesmore uniform heating within the oven liner. This gap is unaffected byheat expansion of the oven liner since the liner is fastened to thefront wall flange 42 and any movement is directed rearwardly, thuspredetermined venting is provided for all baking temperatures. Since thefront wall flanges are The gap A is widest at inclined to the vertical,a flush relationship between the exterior of the doo 58 and the frontwall 20 is attainable, providing a neat and pleasing appearance to thefront of the range.

Since a constant gap is assured by this invention,the air gap B can bemade smaller than has heretofore been the practice, with no danger ofharmful restriction upon heating.

Also, since the oven liner is free to expand and contract unevenlywithout binding, no

stresses will be imposed on the front wall of the range by liner warpageto chip and crack the brittle vitreous enamel or porcelain surfaces.

A modification of this invention is shown in Figs. 6 and 7 of'thedrawings in which the strip member 33 is replaced. These figures arefragmentary views, since most of the structure is the same. In thisembodiment, the oven liner It has a lower flange 34a which is ofisetrearwardly by a bent back portion 70. The side flanges 36 are disposedflush with the bent portion 70 and are inclined to the vertical. Thelower flange 34a is rigidly fastened to the flange 42 in any mannerdesired, as for example by screws 12.

The tapered gap A between the oven liner side flanges 36 and the wallopening side flanges 44 will be attained as in the first embodiment,thus allowing uneven expansion to occur in the oven liner withoutinterference from the wall openings flanges. Any expansion will also bedirected rearwardly, since the oven liner is firmly anchored to thefront wall by the screws '12.

The oven door 58 is disposed flush with the front wall 20 of the range,providing a tapered air intake gap B which is unaffected by oven cookingtemperatures.

The controlled air gap B between the oven liner and the door lendsitself to rapid and accurate adjustment, and may therefore beadvantageously set on a moving assembly line. Since the width of the gapremains unchanged for all oven operating temperatures, manufacturingquality is controlled and improved, and desired oven bakingcharacteristics are maintained consistently from oven to oven.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof.

What I claim is:

1. A range comprising a sheet metal outer structure and an oven liner,said outer structure having a substantially vertical front wall and saidfront wall having a rectangular opening, said oven liner having a topwall, a bottom wall, side walls and a rear wall, said top, bottom andside walls having front marginal portions extending outwardly to providetop, bottom and side oven liner flanges, respectively, a horizontalstrip member rigidly attached to the rear face of said lower linerflange and extending downwardly, said oven liner being disposed withinand extending rearwardly of said opening and said strip member beingattached to said front wall, said strip member thereby spacing said sideflanges from said front wall, a support for said oven liner arranged topermit horizontal liner movement and a door forming a closure for saidopening and said oven liner, said door being pivoted near its lower edgeand having its upper edge adapted to abut said top liner flange.

2. A range comprising a sheet .metal. outer structure having a frontwall, said front wall oven liner disposed within said opening andextending rearwardly therefrom, said oven liner I having its frontmarginal portion bent outwardly 5 a to provide a top flange and sideflanges, said liner having means for spacing a substantial portion ofsaid side flanges of the oven liner from said side flanges of the frontwall, said means including a flat strip member at the bottom of theliner for securing the same to said bottom wall flange, and a pivotallymounted door adapted to register with said wall opening and close saidoven liner, said door being spaced from said oven liner adjacent saidpivotal 15 mounting.

3. The structure recited in claim 2 in which said strip member is formedintegral with said liner and is offset rearwardly from the liner sideflanges to effect said spacing.

EARL K. CLARK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,478,134 Mitchell Dec. 18, 19231,669,803 Armstrong May .15, 1928 2,078,840 Dorl Apr. 27, 1937 2,367,007Cossin Jan. 9, 1945 2,393,879 Barnsteiner Jan. 29, 1946

